The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

Monday, November 19, 2012

Minorities in Pakistan

by Saman Ataurehman

Due to increasing extremism and
intolerance, members of minority communities are not able to find even
simple labor jobs, even if employers would like to hire them, without
their lives being threatened.

Liaqat Masih, the name he gave, said that he and his refined and
elegant wife had given up their positions in the school system and moved
to Lahore to build a better future their son. Minority communities
migrated to the big cities hoping there would be less discrimination
there.
At first, he said, he could not find a job, apparently because of his
name, Masih [Jesus], until he joined The Morgan Bread Factory as an
Assistant Administrative Manager in February 2011.
After a few days at this job, he said, a part-time worker, who was a
cleric and prayer leader in a mosque nearby, demanded that the canteen
manager to keep separate utensils for him, due to his Christian faith.
When he brought this matter to the attention of the owner of the
factory, the owner immediately fired the part-time worker; but after a
few months, the same complaint surfaced through another worker. That
worker, too, was made to quit, and Liaqat was encouraged to stay in his
job, especially as he had managed to reduce theft in the factory by
half.

Soon, however, complaints against him became routine. His coworkers
began accusing him of preaching Christianity and favoring America. He
began receiving death threats, he said, but still did not quit the job.
"I did not want to die of starvation," he said.

In November 2011, the owner of the factory received a letter
demanding that Liaqat be expelled or assassinated. The owner of the
factor told him it was impossible to provide adequate security, so
Liaqat Masih was fired from his job.

He said he is still receiving death threats and is unable to find
work: he has been threatened with death if he does. The only way to
work, he was told, would be to embrace Islam.

As early as 2005, the bishop of Peshawar, Bishop Munarwar Rumalshah, had stated in an interview with The News
(Aug 7, 2005): "If I am asked to single out one major point of
discrimination against my community, it is that jobs are not available
to its members. As a result, the struggle for survival has left us out.
If you close the tap of economic survival on us, there is no need of
physically killing us. So all this talk of protection is meaningless
[unless something is done about the economic welfare of Christian
community]."

During the last two decades, a number Christians have migrated to
Lahore in search of a livelihood. The increase of Christians has raised
their presence there to about 10% of the city. Christians are about 1.5%
of the population of Pakistan, but due to increasing extremism and
intolerance, members of minority communities are not able to find even
simple labor jobs, even if employers would like to hire them, without
their lives being threatened.

Social justice now apparently includes demands for firing workers,
denying them promotion, excluding them from renting places to live.

Even though the factory owner was willing to retain Liquat, his
vulnerability in being denied the ability to earn his bread is another
way to kill him.